A Red Deer College student is a member of a national council to tackle the high rate of HIV and AIDS among aboriginal youth.
Erin Konsmo, 23, was named to the National Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Youth Council formed by the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) last week.
Ten young people, aged 18 to 29, from across Canada have joined the council to work on a five-year plan to help figure out the best way to reach and engage youth on the issue of HIV prevention.
"It's really important for us to be empowering youth and educating them on their sexual health," Konsmo said.
The biggest reason why youth have not received the information they need about HIV and AIDS is because it hasn't been a priority, she said.
Konsmo, a bachelor of arts student studying sociology at the college, said Albertans in general have a higher rate of sexually transmitted infections than people in other provinces.
CAAN says aboriginal youth make up more than 26.5 per cent of new HIV infections in Canada.
CAAN executive director Ken Clement said youth are the fastest growing aboriginal population and culturally-based programs play an important role in educating youth about disease prevention.
And the new council can be part of that effort, he said.
"Cultural sensitivity around prevention education needs to be done by aboriginal youth. Certainly, the whole gamut of HIV/AIDS work needs to be co-ordinated by aboriginal people in Canada," Clement said.
The council is to meet face to face for the first time in February.
Demand among Red Deer?s homeless is growing at soup kitchens and other day services while homeless shelters see reduced need during this season?s first bitter cold snap.
Officials with NightReach, Safe Harbour Society for Health and Housing, Berachah Place, Potter?s Hands Ministries and Shining Mountains Living Community Services say they are working hard to ensure no one needs to stay outside in the Arctic chill.
Monday night, when temperatures plummeted to below -30C with windchills of -38C, two NightReach workers found 28 people walking in the downtown area.
The workers supplied them with everything from water to condoms and granola bars. A total of 13 pairs of gloves, eight tuques and seven coffees, plus two safe inhalation kits to help addicts inhale drugs more safely were given out.
Everyone was under age 50 and one was younger than 18. Among them were three sex workers.
We saw 28 people, the most we have seen in one night the coldest night,said Jennifer Vanderschaeghe, executive director of the Central Alberta AIDS Society.
Monday was so cold that electricity use in Red Deer reached an all-time high of 136.9 megawatts, surpassing the Dec. 15, 2008, record of 136.4 megawatts.
The AIDS organization is doing the NightReach pilot program with the Red Deer Native Friendship Society two nights a week. City of Red Deer Family and Community Support Services is funding it until Jan.
Fortunately, those who need shelter are finding a bed for the night
Colleen Markus, director of programs with Safe Harbour, said contrary to what some believe, they don?t see a surge of clients during bone-chilling weather.
Like Christmastime, people are more accommodating to offer the homeless a free bed for the night.
"I wouldn't say we see a huge decrease (in numbers), but sometimes we see a little decrease when the cold weather comes," said Markus
The society operates 20 beds through its detox program, 23 beds through People's Place shelter, 20 to 30 beds through Winter Inn where participating churches open their doors for the night, and the mat program of 20 to 25 beds
"One thing we do is make sure that we?re being really diligent and allow people to come in for day support, to warm up for an hour ? encourage people to stay in," Markus said.
Those offering day support for the homeless have seen a rise in clientele.
Chris Salomons, kitchen co-ordinator with Potter's Hands, said between 70 and 80 breakfasts are normally served
"This week, it's been more like 100-plus," he said.
The centre also provides soup lunches and since the cold weather began in the fall, more people have come in for meals.
Raye St. Denys, executive director of Shining Mountains Living Community Services, said she figured they wouldn't have many people walk in this week, but the centre did.
The agency provides hot stew, soups, sandwiches, coffee, plus items like blankets, toiletries, hats and mitts.
Kimberley Wilson, director of the Berachah Place day shelter, said an average of 29 people were visiting the shelter daily last week compared with 55 on average a day this week.
"When it?s this cold, it's hard to get motivated to find a job," Wilson said. "But they find themselves having perseverance."
The shelter at B4611 50th Ave. provides free laundry, shower and storage facilities, plus free winterwear and light snacks and drinks.
When it shuts down for the day, there are other places where people can stay warm because the agencies have co-ordinated efforts, Wilson added.
Berachah Place has issued an appeal for financial help in the hiring of a support worker and for building renovations. For information, call the centre at 403-358-5437.
That?s what it?s like for Canada?s aboriginal people who are already ?traumatized? by a history of discrimination and then are diagnosed with HIV, says a Métis man living with HIV.
Duane Morrisseau-Beck, keynote speaker at the Central Alberta Aboriginal HIV/AIDS conference on Friday, said he was lucky to find a doctor in Winnipeg who recognized that his despair and anger went beyond the medical problems associated with HIV.
?He got it. What I think he saw was a history of trauma, not just for Métis people, but Inuit people and First Nation people,? said Morrisseau-Beck, of Ottawa.
Morrisseau-Beck, who grew up with his adopted family in Manitoba, said his doctor realized he needed to deal with his emotions to release his compounded pain.
Morrisseau-Beck challenged aboriginal organizations working with people with HIV/AIDS to develop emotional behaviour programs to help people to go beyond talking about their emotions and to start to process their feelings.
He said providing the right programming can take people from ?being a victim to being victorious.?
?Emotional wellness programs allow people that are HIV positive to get past their diagnosis. With medications and emotional support programs, it opened up a door for me, such as getting education opportunities and starting to plan a path for my life.?
In addition to being an activist for aboriginal people with HIV, Morrisseau-Beck now works as an aboriginal labour market advisor in the Aboriginal Program Operations department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
He said the first person he told he had HIV in 1989 was his adopted mother, who immediately rejected him, so he also knows how important it is to be accepted by family and community.
?If a person with HIV doesn?t have that validation, they?re going to keep (their positive status) to themselves and that harms them even more.?
The conference, held at Red Deer College, was hosted by Shining Mountains Living Community Services and the college.
About a dozen people from Shining Mountains Living Community Services and the Red Deer College Rural Health Research and Social Work Departments joined forces Tuesday to raise awareness of the rising numbers of HIV/AIDS cases in aboriginal communities with a special walk and supper.
By Advocate staff
Published: December 02, 2009 8:02 AM
The incidence of HIV/AIDS among aboriginal people in Central Alberta continues at epidemic proportions despite progress made in mainstream society, says Raye St. Denys, executive director of Shining Mountains Living Community Services.
In concert with Red Deer College, Shining Mountains will host a conference on Friday dealing with HIV/AIDS issues within Central Alberta's First Nations and Métis communities. Set for the Four Centres Building at the college, the conference is a part of a new research project that will investigate issues specific to aboriginal communities in Central Alberta.
The conference includes a keynote address by Duane Morriseau-Beck, who has been a key figure in addressing HIV/AIDS issues among aboriginal people across Canada, including access to antiretrovirals.
Admission is $20 for students and $75 in advance or $100 at the door for everyone else.
Registration is open from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with the conference to open at 8:45 a.m.
For information, visit www.shiningmountainslcs.ca or call 403-346-9794.
Executive Director of Shining Mountains Living Community Services, Raye St. Denys accepting a Woman of Excellence Award
In an evening devoted to women of excellence, lifetime achievement award winner Hazel Flewwelling paid an emotional tribute to her grandmother.
A mother of 10 children and relentlessly abused by her husband, Flora Farnham found a way to survive even after a divorce left her penniless and trying to raise her four youngest children in the Benalto district during the 1930s, said Flewwelling.
Finding work where she could, the woman took a job as a cook at a sawmill. The post also put her in charge of the illegal liquor still, and her former husband used that to bring down the police on her. They gave her the option; go back to your husband or jail.
?My grandmother, God bless her, said, ?I would go to jail rather than go back to that brute.?
?And so she did. And you know what I?m proud of my grandmother.?
Flewwelling was one of 22 women honoured at the second Women of Excellence Gala that drew more than 300 people to the Capri Hotel and Convention Centre
?You are a force to be reckoned with,? said Red Deer College president Joel Ward.
Flewwelling, who was supported by her husband, Red Deer Mayor Morris Flewwelling, and her children, said she was deeply touched by the recognition.
?I know that all of you have a story and all of you have those causes that are near and dear to your heart. You have passion.
Also recognized for her dedicated community efforts was another former teacher, Evelyn Johannson of Spruce View
The 87-year-old has spent most of her life in Central Alberta and she was honoured for the influence she has had on so many students, filling them with confidence and bolstering their self esteem
Johannson was introduced as a woman who did not seek the limelight, but worked for decades as a community builder and volunteer with numerous organizations and became a role model for many. She is also the mother of eight grown children, a grandmother to 18 and great-grandmother to 16.
?It?s so exciting. It?s just such a surprise for me,? said Johannson, after her name was announced as the first of the evening?s winners.
She owes much of her community spirit to her parents, she said. ?Volunteering has always been a way of life for me.?
Johannson has been deeply involved in church groups, the ladies club and the Icelandic Society.
?It?s my privilege to do my share for the benefit of my country and my community.
?I am deeply honoured to receive this award,? she said, thanking family and friends who had travelled from all over to share her evening.
The Women of Excellence Awards was one of two projects set up last year by the Red Deer and District Community Foundation. Double the number of winner were honoured this year compared with the inaugural event
The recipients in the other categories included:
Agriculture and Environment -- Environmentalist Judy Boyd, broadcaster Dianne Finstad, Red Deer College instructor Sandra MacDougall
Arts, Culture and Heritage -- Poet and community arts volunteer Glynis Wilson Boultbee, musician and music teacher Sadie Braun
Athletics, Recreation and Fitness -- Fitness and lifestyle coach Colleen Manning Baumbach, Pottery studio owner and community volunteer Margaret Phelan
Community Building -- Sentinel Self-Storage owner May Johnson, City of Red Deer social planning supervisor Wendy Klassen.
Education and Training -- Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division superintendent Paulette Hanna, Special needs consultant and volunteer Jane Proudlove.
Entrepreneurship -- Real Women on the Run publisher Kim Berube, L.A. Radio Group Inc. co-owner Sonia Sawyer Schaab.
Health and Wellness -- Central Alberta AIDS Network Society executive director Jennifer Vanderschaeghe, Red Deer Hospice Society executive director Brenda Watts.
Human Services -- Central Alberta Women?s Immigrant Association executive director Halima Ali, Shining Mountains Living Community Services executive director Raye St. Denys.
Young Woman of Excellence -- Student leader Erin Konsmo
